Heel-seat fitting machine



L. G. MILLER 2,315,638 HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE April 6,1943.

Filed Feb. 2, 194:2 2 Sheets-Shet 1 April 6, 1943. L. ca. MILLER 2,315,638

HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE application February 2, 1942, Serial No. 429,192

Claims.

This invention relates to machines for fitting heel seats of attached soles of shoes for the reception of heels and is illustrated as embodied in an improved heel gage for use in such machines.

In fitting the heel-seat portion of an attached sole of a shoe by the use of a machine of the general type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,053,295, granted September 8, 1936, on an application filed in the name of Fred L. MacKenzie, the positions of heel-breast receiving shoulders formed on the sole, and accordingly the location of the heel-seat tab which is arranged immediately rearward of said shoulders, are determined by shoe positioning mechanism. The operative position of the shoe positioning mechanism is regulated by a heel measuring gage cornprising a table upon which the heel to be attached to the shoe is placed, attaching face downward and breast forward, and forward and rearward abutments the latter of which is movable over the table and co-operates with the forward abutment, which is fixed, in measuring the attaching face of the heel lengthwise.

As disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,170,842, granted August 29, 1939, on an application filed in the name of William D. Thomas, when operating upon interlocking heels the heel measuring gage is modified by interchangeable attachments. Moreover, the heel gaging mechanism of the machine may be modified quickly and effectively to accommodate a wide variety of sizes and styles of heels by the use of mechanism such as disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,277,076 granted March 24, 1942 on an application in the name of William S. Dallas. It has been found that when the various types of heels, and especially high Cuban heels which are provided with forwardly inclined heel breasts and may be identified as pitched breast heels, are operated upon by the above-mentioned abutments, there is a tendency for the forward ends of such heels to be raised slightly away from the table and, in some cases, out of engagement with the fixed front abutment. In order accurately to measure the length of the heel, it is desirable that the rims of the attaching faces of such heels shall be held in engagement with the table and holddowns such, for example, as shown in the above-mentioned MacKenzie patent have been used to some extent in order to overcome the above-mentioned tendency.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in a heel-seat fitting machine an improved holddown by the use of which heels of all types can, without interference, be quickly placed upon a heel supporting table of a heel measuring gage of the machine, or on a heel supporting attachment applied to the gage when the machine is equipped for interlocking work, and which will effectively hold the attaching face of the heel securely against the table, or against the attachment, while the shoe to which the heel is to be attached is being operated upon in the machine.

With the above object in View, and in accordance with a feature of the present invention, the illustrative heel-seat fitting machine comprises a table, a presser member shaped and arranged to be engaged by a heel, abutments constructed and arranged to be engaged by the rear face and breast, respectively, of the heel mounted upon the table to measure lengthwise the attaching face of the heel, and a holder about which the presser member may be swung to cause the heel to be forced against the table, the holder being manually adjustable to various positions heightwise and lengthwise of the table to insure that said holder may be so positioned that the force exerted against the heel by the presser member shall be directed toward the surface of engagement of the breast of the heel with its associated abutment in accordance with the size and style of the heel.

In the illustrative machine the presser member is mounted upon a carrier which is pivoted to the holder and is urged toward the table by a spring, movement of the carrier toward the table, when there is no work in the machine, being limited by a stop. In order to accommodate pitched breast as well as military Cuban heels, for example, the presser member comprises a V-shaped portion and a bar, means being provided to enable the operator to move the presser member into different adjusted positions on the carrier to render either the V-shaped portion or the bar operative in accordance with the type of heel to be accommodated. By providing the heel-seat fitting machine with a heel gage having the abovedescribed holddown, heels of all sizes and types may be quickly and effectively positioned in the gage and may be effectively held in said gage preparatory to and While the machine is fitting the heel seats of the shoes to which the heels are to be attached.

The various features of the invention will be understood and appreciated from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away and partly in section, of heel gaging and shoe positioning mechanism of a heel-seat fitting machine provided with an improved heel holddown;

Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevations of the heel gage showing the holddown operating upon pitched breast and military Cuban heels, respectively; and

Fig. 4 shows in perspective the heel end portion of a shoe which has been operated upon by the above machine.

The illustrative machine, except for a holddown 2!] which will later be described in detail, is practically identical with the machine disclosed in the above-mentioned MacKenzie Patent No. 2,053,295 and the Thomas Patent No. 2,170,- 842, and comprises a table 22 upon which a Cuban heel H (Figs. 1 and 2) of the pitched breast type or a Cuban heel H (Fig. 3) of the military type to be applied to a shoe S to be operated upon, is positioned, attaching face down.

In order to measure the heels H, H, there is provided a rear abutment 24 which is movable forwardly and rearwardly over the table 22, and a front abutment or gage 26. As explained in the above-mentioned Thomas Patent No. 2,170,- 842, when the machine is operating upon Louis work (not shown), the front abutment 26 is swung to an inoperative position about a pivot screw 28 which passes through a recess in the abutment and is threaded into a slide movable in a forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway (not shown) in the table 22. The slide may be initially moved lengthwise of the table by turning a screw 30 (Figs. 2 and 3). When the machine is operating upon Louis work, a bar 32, which is shown in its vertical inoperative position, is swung into contact with the upper surface of the table 22 and serves as the fixed or forward abutment with which a lip of the Louis heel engages.

The movable abutment 24 is secured through a screw-and-slot connection 34 (Figs. 2 and 3) to a slide 36 which is moved along a T-shaped guideway 38 of the table 22 and is pivoted at its rear end to the upper arm of a yoke 40 pivoted to a bearing pin 42 (Fig. 1) secured to the main frame by a screw 44. The yoke 40 is normally urged in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, by a coil spring 46 the upper end of which is secured to the yoke and the lower end of which is secured to a stud 48 carried by the pin 42. As explained in the Thomas Patent No. 2,170,842, rotation of the yoke 49 causes a stop 50 having a spiral face 52 to rotate, the stop being constructed and arranged to determine the extent of rearward movement of a back gage 54 which is engaged by the rear end of the shoe S and is moved rearwardly by the operator until mechanism operatively connected to the gage engages the spiral face 52 of the stop 58.

In the operation of the machine, the rear upper end of the heel H is forced against the abutment 24 which is moved rearward against the action of the spiral spring 46 until the heel can be placed, attaching face down, upon the table 22. The operator then releases the heel, the movable abutment 24 then forcing the heel forward until its breast engages the stationary abutment 28. The stop so is thus set in accordance with the length of the attaching face of the heel and the back gage 54 may be forced rearwardly by the shoe to a predetermined position determined by the stop, to locate the shoe lengthwise in the machine. After the shoe has been positioned in the machine, a back knife (not shown) moves forwardly along the underside of a crease plate 56 to reduce the heel-seat portion of the sole and to form a tab T, and a pair of knives 58, or, in the case of interlocking work, a single knife (not shown), moves downwardly past the forward edge of the crease plate to form heel-breast receiving shoulders R on the sole of the shoe. With the above arrangement, when the heel is accurately positioned upon the fitted heel seat of the shoe, the breast of the heel snugly engages the heel-breast receiving shoulders R, as shown in Fig. 4.

The operation of the sole trimming mechanism and the heel gaging and positioning mechanism of the machine is clearly disclosed in the abovementioned patents, to which reference may be had for a further understanding of the operation and construction of the machine. As fully described in the above-mentioned Letters Patent No. 2,277,076, in order to equip the machine for operating upon interlocking work, a readily removable platform and heel measuring abutments (not shown) are attached to the heel gage of the regular machine.

The improved holddown 26, which forms the subject matter of this application, will now be described. Secured to the table 22 by screws 69 is a bracket 62 having secured to it by a screw 63 (Figs. 2 and 3) an upstanding lug 64 provided with an elongated slot 66. If desirable the lug 64 may be formed integral with the bracket 62 and may be described as part thereof. Straddling the lug 64 is a yoke-shaped holder 68 having alined bores for receiving a screw 79 upon which is threaded a wing nut 72, the arrangement being such that the wing nut, which operates against a sleeve 14 surrounding the outer end of the screw 10 and bearing against the lug 64, may be loosened to enable the operator to adjust the holder 68 lengthwise of the bracket 62, or into any desired angular position with relation to the bracket, the screw then being tightened to lock the holder in its adjusted position upon the bracket. In order to assist the above-mentioned mechanism in retaining the holder 58 against downward angular displacement with relation to the bracket 62, there is provided a screw 75 which is threaded through a bridge portion of the holder 68 and has its end in engagement with the upper face of the lug 64.

Pivotally mounted upon trunnions I8 and arranged at opposite sides of the holder t8 are a pair of carrier arms or link connections 38. The forward ends of the arms 89 have recesses for ceiv trunnions one of which is threaded, extending laterally from opposite sidepieces 84 of a presser member 85 (Figs. 2 and 3). As will appear later, the presser member 86 may be clamped securely to the carrier arms Bil by the provision of a wing nut 88 threaded onto one of the trunnions 82, or may be permitted to swing about the axis 99 (Fig. 1) of the trunnions 82 under pressure of the heel, as will appear later, so that it will orient itself effectively to the lateral portions of heels of different sizes and styles. The presser member 86 comprises a rigid bar 92 secured to or formed integral with the sidepieces 84 and a pair of oppositely disposed extensions 94 to which are secured leather pads 95 forming a V-shaped member and arranged to be engaged by the opposite sidepieces or portions of the heel.

The holder 68 is provided with an extension $3 (Figs. 2 and 3) through which is threaded a stop screw i 36 which is engaged by a lip Hi2 of the inner carrier arm 89 so as to limit downward movement of the carrier arms about the trunnion I3 when there is no work in the gage. The carrier arms 83 are normally urged downwardly with reference to the holder 68 by springs I04 central portions of which are wrapped about corresponding trunnions l8 and opposite ends of which are secured, respectively, to the arms 80 and to rods I threaded into the holder 68.

When the machine is operating upon Louis heels (not shown), interlocking heels (not shown), and pitched breast Cuban heels I-I (Figs. 1 and 2), the pads 95 of the presser member 86 are engaged by opposite lateral surfaces, respectively, of the heel, the wing nut 88, in accordance with some operators preference, having been loosened so that when the heel is being positioned in the heel gage the presser member will rotate about the axis 90 of the trunnions 82 and will thus orient itself to the opposite lateral portions of the heel.

When the machine is operating upon the military Cuban heel H (Fig. 3), it has been found convenient to utilize the bar 92 of the presser member 86 for the purpose of holding the heel securely against the table 22. Accordingly, when changing from pitched breast to military Cuban heels, for example, the presser member is swung about the axis 90 of the trunnions 82 from its position shown in Fig. 2 to its position shown in Fig. 3 and is thus clamped in the latter position by setting up on the wing nut 88. In positioning the military Cuban heel in the machine, the operator causes the bar 92 to engage the top-lift receiving face of the heel and moves the heel rearwardly as he forces the heel against the movable abutment 24, which, under pressure, slides rearwardly in its guideway 38. When the attaching face of the heel can be placed upon the table 22, the operator releases the heel and the abutment 24 moves the heel forwardly until its breast has been moved into engagement with the fixed gage 2B, the bar 92 following the top-lift receiving face of the heel and serving effectively to press the heel against the table.

It will be appreciated that when the heel H, H being positioned upon the table 22 i moved rearwardl against the presser member 86 it is desirable that the carrier arms 8!) shall swing upwardly about an axis IE8 about the trunnions 18. Accordingly, when there is no heel in the gage, the axis Hi8 of the trunnions 18 should be positioned nearer to the table than is the axis 90 of the trunnions 82. Moreover, in order to insure that the heel shall be securely held against the table 22, the direction llll (Figs. 2 and 3) of downward thrust of the presser member 86 against the heel should pass through the forward part of the attaching face of the heel.

By mounting the holder 68 for translatory adjustment lengthwise of the slot 66 and for angular movement about the screw Hi, the axis I08 of the trunnions '58 may be moved to positions in which the holddown will operate most advantageously upon heels of various sizes and styles.

The holddown 2i! may be described as comprising a fork-shaped heel engaging member which is mounted for swinging movement simultaneously about two spaced axes 90 and 108, respectively, which are parallel to one another. It will be noted that in order that the fork-shaped member shall orient itself to different portions of heels and to heels of different sizes and shapes, the axis 9.) which extends widthwise of the heel lies in close proximity to the portion of engagement of the presser member in engagement with the heel, as distinguished from the axis I08 which is located a considerable distance rearwardly of the heel.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a support, means comprising movable and stationary abutments for measuring the length of the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the support, a heel holddown comprising one or more members shaped and arranged to be engaged by the heel and a carrier for said members, said carrier being mounted for pivotal movement about an axis, and means for enabling the operator to vary the position of said axis lengthwise and heightwise of the heel positioned upon said support.

2. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a support, means for measuring the length of the attaching face of a heel which is mounted upon the support, a holddown for forcing the heel against the support, said holddown comprising a forkshaped member which is mounted for swinging movement simultaneously about two spaced and approximately parallel axes, and resilient means for constantly urging said forked member about one of said axes and toward the support.

3. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a support, fixed and movable abutments for measuring lengthwise the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the support, a holddown shaped and arranged to engage rear lateral surface portions of the heel, and a spring for urging the holddown toward the support, said holddown being constructed and arranged to be moved away from the support against the action of the spring by pressure of the heel as the heel is forced lengthwise along the support against the movable abutment, said spring being adapted to cause the holddown to follow the heel, thus insuring that the heel is constantly forced against the support as the heel is moved in a reverse direction by the pressure of the movable abutment.

4. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a table, stationary and movable abutments between which the attaching face of a heel mount-ed upon the table is measured lengthwise, a holder, carrier arms pivoted at their rear ends to the holder and extending away from the table as they extend forwardly away from the holder, a presser member shaped and arranged to be engaged by a heel mounted upon the table, said presser member being mounted for pivotal movement upon the forward ends of the carrier arms, and a spring for constantly urging the arms toward the table, said holder being movable into diiferent adjustable positions lengthwise and heightwise of the table to vary the position of the axis of the pivotal connection between the arms and the holder.

5. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a table, fixed and movable abutments for measuring lengthwise the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the table, a carrier, a holder upon which the carrier is pivotally mounted about an axis extending widthwise of the heel and located a considerable distance rearwardly of the heel, and a presser member which is pivotally mounted upon the carrier for swinging movement about an axis and is constructed and arranged to be engaged by the heel which is to be measured by the abutments, the last-named axis extending widthwise of the heel and being located in close relation to the portions of the heel engaged by the presser member.

6. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a support, abutments constructed and arranged to be engaged by the rear face and breast, respectively, of a heel mounted upon the support to measure lengthwise the attaching face of the heel, a presser member shaped and arranged to be engaged by the heel, and a holder, said presser member being mounted for pivotal movement about said holder, said holder being manually adjustable to varying positions heightwise and lengthwise of the table to insure that said holder may be so positioned that the force exerted. against the heel by the presser member shall be directed toward the surface of engagement of the breast of the heel with its associated abutment in accordance with the size and style of the heel.

7. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a table, means comprising movable and stationary abutments for measuring lengthwise the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the table, a holder mounted for pivotal and translatory adjustment with relation to the table, means for securing the holder against movement with respect to the table, a presser member constructed and arranged to be engaged by the heel, link connections between the presser member and the holder, resilient means for urging the link connections toward the table about the holder, and means for limiting movement of the link connections toward the table.

8. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a table, means comprising movable and stationary abutments for measuring lengthwise the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the table, a bracket secured to the table, said bracket having a lug provided with an elongated slot,aholder mounted upon the bracket, a setscrew extending through the slot in the bracket, means comprising said setscrew for permitting the holder to be moved into different adjusted positions lengthwise of the slot and into different angular positions about the setscrew, means for securing the holder rigidly to the bracket, a carrier mounted at one end to the bracket and having at its other end a heel engaging presser member, a spring for urging the carrier toward the table with relation to the holder, and means for limiting movement of the carrier under the action of the spring toward the table.

9. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a table, sta tionary and movable abutments between which the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the table is measured lengthwise, a holder, carrier arms pivoted at their rear ends to the holder and extending away from the table as they extend away from the holder, a presser member mounted upon the forward ends of the carrier arms, said presser member comprising a V- shaped portion shaped and arranged to be engaged by opposite lateral faces of a pitch breast Cuban heel and a bar shaped and arranged to be engaged by the top-lift engaging face of a military Cuban heel, means for enabling the operator to move the presser member into difierent adjusted positions on the carrier arm to render either the V-shaped portion or the bar of the presser member operative in accordance with the type of heel to be accommodated, a spring for constantly urging the carrier arms toward the table, and a stop for limiting movement of the arms toward the table.

10. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a heel gage comprising a table, movable and fixed abutments for measuring lengthwise the attaching face of a heel mounted upon the table, means for constantly urging the movable abutment toward the fixed abutment, a carrier, a presser member constructed and arranged to engage the opposite lateral portions of the heel, said presser member being mounted upon the carrier for move ment about an axis which extends transversely of the heel and lies in close proximity to the portion of engagement of the presser member with the heel, a holder, said carrier being mounted upon the holder for movement about an axis which is arranged nearer to the table than is the first-named axis, a spring for constantly urging the carrier together with the presser member toward the table about the second-named axis, the construction and arrangement of the presser member, the carrier and the holder being such that the carrier is swung away from the table when the operator moves the heel rearwardly along the table against the presser member and against the movable abutment and the carrier is swung toward the table by the action of the spring when pressure of the heel against the movable abutment is released, and means for moving the holder into different adjusted positions heightwise and lengthwise of the table to vary the position of the second-named axis.

LLOYD G. MILLER. 

